We Are The Makers of Manners
by LaughterNeverDies
Summary: Little windows into the lives of Merlin and Arthur, some laughter, some tears, and just a little bit of true love; because that is the one truth everyone can understand. (Rating may go up in future chapters)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Written from my little knowledge of the few episodes in series 5 that I have watched, please forgive any mistakes concerning characterization and incorrect plot lines! Thank you for giving it a chance! **

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Merlin fastened the last buckle on Arthur's armour with regret. He took a breath and walked around to Arthur's front, returning the king's smile weakly. "Are you alright Merlin?" Arthur asked, resting a heavy hand on Merlin's shoulder. Merlin looked up at him reproachfully through dark lashes and Arthur squeezed his shoulder. Merlin grinned falsely.

"It's funny; I never used to care this much about you before." He lied smoothly, attempting a light-hearted tone. Arthur frowned and Merlin blushed despite his best efforts.

"Merlin-"

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Merlin cut in, feigning the action of plucking some dust from Arthur's breastplate in order to touch him. He inched his fingers slyly between the plates of cold metal and pressed his fingertips against the warmth of Arthur's flesh beneath.

Arthur smiled fondly down at him, his hand slipping easily around to cup the back of Merlin's head, his fingers buried in Merlin's soft dark hair. Arthur raised his head, scanning the armoury for strangers or worse, friends, before dipping down and kissing his manservant deeply. Merlin gave a small hiccup of surprise before stretching forwards to push further into the kiss. Arthur smiled against Merlin's lips and pulled him closer, his other arm wrapping tightly around the other man's waist and tugging his body flat against his own.

When they pulled apart Merlin was grinning. Arthur smiled and touched their foreheads together. "You worry too much." He murmured gruffly. Merlin rolled his eyes and placed a gentle kiss on Arthur's lips.

"Be safe. Try not to die." He instructed.

Arthur grinned, "Yes sir."

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"Arthur?" The pair looked up, startled by the voice calling out from the hall. Merlin jumped away from Arthur quickly and busied himself with polishing some irrelevant piece of metalwork as Gwaine strode into the armory. Arthur gave him a curt nod, licking his lips self-consciously and clapping a hand painfully on Merlin's shoulder in a manly gesture. Merlin grimaced and shot him a frown, although he was used to Arthur physically asserting his masculinity in the company of others. In a bout of uncharacteristic bravery he had even told him off for it once. The only result gleaned from his outburst turned out to be that Arthur pinned him against the wall as soon as they were alone, and proceeded to show him just how dominant he really was.

If he was being honest, Merlin couldn't really complain about that turnout too much.

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He watched Arthur ride off with his knights proudly trotting behind. He wondered if he would get Arthur back in once piece, or if, like so many times before, he would be delivered back to his arms bruised and bloody. Merlin would patch him up and put the missing pieces back together, and they would carry on, because that was just what they did. For once, Merlin could accept this fact for what it was, and in the end they would always end up thrown together again, probably in a graceless merry mess, and that was alright.

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**Thank you for reading! The next little chapter will be up shortly, please review if you have the time, I'd love to hear some feedback! xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Just so you know, most of these chapters will start half way through a conversation, sorry if it's hard to read! **

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"And what if he ruins everything?" Merlin asked, jogging to catch up with Arthur. "You can't have one of your knights endangering the lives of everyone else." Arthur merely shook his head.

"You don't know him like I do, he's a good man and he'll make an excellent knight." He replied, his eyes fixed on the horizon broken by the now sparse trees. Merlin fell into step beside him, swaying unconsciously along with Arthur's swaggering gait. They walked in silence for a moment, separated from the other knights by a good mile, hunting on foot in the woods too dense to be practical for horseback. Somewhere a pigeon cooed softly to itself, and a twig snapped eerily in the undergrowth. Merlin stooped to pick up a thick log and waved it out in front of him threateningly.

"I could be a knight," he said thoughtfully. Arthur smirked as Merlin twirled the log like a training staff, jabbing it viciously into imaginary opponents and performing a parry against an invisible swordsman. The king ducked just in time to avoid getting smacked round the head.

"Merlin!" He scolded, reaching out and yanking the offending log from Merlin's grasp. Merlin pressed his lips together guiltily and Arthur rolled his eyes.

Arthur sidled closer to Merlin, subtly taking his hand. Merlin's face brightened as Arthur slipped his warm hand into his, their fingers lacing together instinctively. Merlin looked at Arthur out of the corner of his eye.

"You're just a big softie really, aren't you Sire?" He laughed.

"That's not what you said last night." Arthur replied with a lopsided smile. He glanced at Merlin. "I believe you're blushing Merlin." He chuckled, nudging him with his shoulder.

Merlin mumbled something inaudible and tripped over a tree stump. Arthur caught him just in time and sighed wearily. Merlin was pulled back to Arthur's side irritably. He shuffled up a bit so that Arthur's hip bumped his when they walked, their hands still joined between them.

"You'd make a clumsy knight," Arthur muttered. "I'd never give you a sword. You'd have to fight with a small pointy stick and even then I'm not entirely sure you wouldn't manage to take someone's eye out."

"Your faith in me is astounding." Merlin grumbled.

They wandered along in silence for a while. Arthur looked around him, seeming very interested in the canopy of golden leaves above their head, his thumb running lightly over Merlin's knuckles. Merlin smiled to himself and squeezed Arthur's hand. Something rustled in the bushes to their left. "Was that a rabbit?" Merlin said suddenly, whipping his head around.

"Probably." Arthur answered in a bored tone.

"I thought we were meant to be hunting?" Merlin pointed out.

Arthur shrugged, "_I'm _meant to be hunting, you're meant to be following me obediently. Anyway, let the others take care of it, it's much too nice to be concentrating on hunting now." Merlin looked at him quizzically, noting with affection how the setting sun bathed Arthur's face in a soft orange glow, like embers smouldering in the hearth.

"You're right, much too lovely..." Merlin murmured to himself.

"What was that?" Arthur asked, looking at him with a knowing smile.

"Nothing." Merlin replied.

Arthur shook his head. "You're an idiot." He said gently, and Merlin grinned.


	3. Chapter 3

Merlin hurried after Arthur quickly, trying to keep up with his long strides. "I told you I'm fine," Arthur was arguing, his arm held painfully against his side. "I just pulled a muscle or something, don't fuss Merlin." He walked brusquely back to his bedchamber, shedding his clothing as he walked, which Merlin was doubtless expected to pick up. Some things never change.

"But if you'll just let me look at it-"

"No!"

"Don't be such a baby Arthur, it will only take a moment."

"I said no! Honestly Merlin you sound like my mother." Merlin rolled his eyes and scampered through the door behind Arthur, his arms full of clothes. When he reached Arthur's room the king was standing shirtless by the window, his arm still held against him. He cradled his elbow to support what was obviously a severely sprained wrist. Merlin dumped the clothes on the bed and went to stand beside him.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked hopefully, feeling useless. Arthur's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"A bath." He replied grudgingly. Merlin smiled and walked away. He had nearly reached the door when Arthur called out to him again.

"Merlin?"

"Yes Arthur." There was a pause as Arthur swallowed his pride.

"It hurts." He said quietly. Merlin sidled over to Arthur and laid his warm hand on Arthur's bicep. He ran his fingers over Arthur's smooth skin, tracing an invisible line from the joint of his shoulder to the tip of his thumb. When Merlin reached Arthur's wrist the king hissed softly, flinching a little. Merlin stroked the dark black bruise forming on Arthur's wrist delicately, his touch feather-light and uncharacteristically gentle.

Arthur blinked slowly, unused to this side of Merlin. Usually his manservant was clumsy and heavy handed, but the way he was touching him now could not be further from the man he thought he knew. Merlin smiled self-consciously and carefully took Arthur's hand, holding him in place so that he could examine the extent of his injury.

"Not going to gloat?" Arthur said when he found his voice, sounding unnaturally loud in the silence that had enveloped them.

"I thought the 'I told you so' was implied." Merlin said with a grin, his fingertip pressing lightly on Arthur's wrist. "How does that feel?" He asked. Arthur grimaced.

"It's not so bad." He lied, and Merlin raised an eyebrow at him before wandering away.

"Don't go anywhere." He said before slipping out of the door. Arthur sat down heavily on the cold stone of the seat beneath the arched window, his head swimming. Merlin returned a moment later carrying a roll of bandaging and a small glass vial.

"Gias said this would help with the pain." He said, handing the vial to Arthur.

"I'm not in pain." Arthur objected, downing the colourless liquid in one gulp. Merlin merely sighed and sat down beside him, taking his hand again and closely studying the bruising on Arthur's wrist.

Arthur watched breathlessly as Merlin slowly lifted his arm and touched his lips oh-so-gently to his injured wrist. He was too enraptured by Merlin's normally clumsy hands holding him so steadily to notice the ethereal golden light which simmered briefly in Merlin's blue eyes as his lips kissed Arthur's skin.

Merlin unravelled the bandage and began gingerly wrapping it around Arthur's wrist, avoiding jerking him suddenly or causing him unnecessary pain.

"Ow." Arthur complained.

"It does _not_ hurt." Merlin said tiredly. And he was right, it didn't. Arthur's wrist felt perfectly fine; in fact, was it his imagination or was the bruising disappearing? Arthur mentally shook himself and put it down to whatever weird concoction Merlin had given him to drink.

Merlin tied the bandage and tucked in the loose ends neatly, wondering how long it would take Arthur to notice that the potion he gave him contained the magnificent healing powers of spring water.

"Thank you." Arthur said after a moment, leaning in and brushing a kiss over Merlin's lips before standing up.

"Wow, a thank you _and _a kiss, someone's feeling generous today." Merlin teased.

"I'll take it back." Arthur warned, looking over his shoulder.

"You can't take back a kiss Arthur." The 'you idiot' was also implied.

Arthur smiled slyly. "No but I can ban you from my bedchambers for a week," he pointed out. Merlin pressed the back of his hand against his forehead, pretending to swoon.

"Oh how will I ever survive without the magnificent Arthur Pendragon bedding me for an entire week?!" He wailed, stumbling dramatically and flopping onto Arthur's bed.

Arthur looked down at him, unimpressed. "Oh Arthur you're so dreamy," Merlin continued, grinning helplessly. Arthur rolled his eyes, climbing on top of Merlin before he could scramble away and trapping him beneath his body. Merlin struggled pathetically and then lay there in defeat, Arthur's weight crushing him. "Eeep." He whined uselessly. "You weigh a ton." Merlin muttered after a minute's pause.

"Don't think you can insult your way into my breeches Merlin." Arthur mumbled from somewhere near his shoulder.

"I think you're crushing something vital." Merlin said, his voice pitched slightly higher than normal.

"You'll get over it."

"Yeah well if you don't get off of it I'm afraid it's not going to be much use," Merlin said in a strained voice. Arthur moved his knee and Merlin let out a sigh of relief. They lay there for a while, Arthur breathing evenly, his limbs sprawled over Merlin's body. He was so still Merlin was afraid he'd fallen asleep and he'd die crushed beneath the half naked torso of Arthur Pendragon. The kingdom would mourn.

"Do you like me?" He asked suddenly. Arthur sighed.

"Of course I like you Merlin."

"No but really, as a person, not a servant or whatever, do you like me?"

Arthur considered for a moment. Merlin could tell by the way his breath hitched expectantly that he kept trying to start a sentence but failed each time. "Very much." He said at last, his eyelashes tickling Merlin's neck as he blinked.

"Really?"

"Hmm. You're a complete clot and a really quite terrible servant but I like you...for you." Merlin smiled so wide his cheeks hurt. He freed his arms and wrapped them tentatively around Arthur's waist. Arthur sighed again but accepted the sentiment. Merlin knew that Arthur had trouble expressing how he really felt, and that was about as close to a declaration of love as he was ever going to get, so he took it for what it was.

"Well I think you're an arrogant arse but I still like you." Merlin replied. Arthur nipped his ear playfully and chuckled as Merlin yelped in surprise.

"I'm still the king you know." He said, sounding exactly like an arrogant arse. Merlin grunted.

"No, you're Arthur. To everyone else you're the king but to me you're still the same stupid Arthur."

Arthur raised his head. "I find that degrading," he remarked, before shoving his face back into the warm space between Merlin's neck and shoulder with a huff. Merlin clucked his tongue irritably and pushed at Arthur's shoulder with his nose.

"Get off me you brute." He whined.

"No." Arthur returned bluntly.

"You're edging closer and closer to the stubborn prince you were the first time we met." Merlin observed a little breathlessly. He wondered how long it would take for him to actually suffocate. Arthur finally gave up and rolled off of him.

"Ouch," Arthur said in an offended tone. Merlin sat up stiffly, wheezing a little.

"I'd like to think I've changed a bit," Arthur mused, examining his bandaged wrist curiously. Merlin slapped at his other hand when he started plucking at the fraying edge.

"You're still an irritating git." Merlin replied, shooting him a cheeky grin. Arthur punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"And you're still just as stupid." He laughed, getting up awkwardly. "And as brave..." He added quietly as he walked away. Merlin decided not to comment as he watched Arthur wander over to the window again.

When someone says something truly honest and heartfelt, sometimes it's best just to pretend you didn't hear, for their sake and your own. But you never forget those words, or how they made you feel, and Merlin vowed he would never forget how much Arthur truly cared, even if he didn't always know how to show it.

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**Please review if you have the time! x**


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